Creative ideas lead to loads of giving in Carpentersville area

With food pantries across the area struggling to keep shelves stocked for the holiday season, some local residents have put on new spin on the old canned food drive.

Marilyn Mack, president of the FISH Food Pantry in Carpentersville, said the organization is feeding about 45 families per week, with more expected over the Christmas period.

"We have been receiving so many donations this year," Mack said. "It is really gratifying and amazing to us to see the amount of food that has been donated by schools, neighborhoods and churches. Sometimes I feel like food is coming out of the woodwork."

Eagle Scout Erik Hansen, 17, organized his first food drive this holiday season. The junior at Jacobs High School asked local grocery stores for paper shopping bags to collect canned food from his neighbors on Carpentersville. Trader Joe's in Algonquin provided 900 bags, while Woodman's and Dominick's in Carpentersville each provided 100 bags.

Hansen and about 50 volunteers from his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Elgin, dropped off about 900 paper grocery bags to the neighborhoods near Liberty Elementary School in Carpentersville. A few days later, he and a group of volunteers collected and delivered about three van loads of food to the FISH Food Pantry.

Another $1,000 donation from the church and collection drives at local doctors' offices, also added two more van loads to the haul.

"Especially with the recession, I thought it would be a lot more useful to organize a fundraiser for food this holiday season instead of going to help clean up Raceway Woods or building something for an Eagle Scout project," Hansen said. "This will help a lot more people."

When West Dundee resident Becky Pietraszewski, 39, held her holiday party earlier this month, she didn't ask guests to bring a plate to pass around. Instead, the former fashion label representative requested that those invited provide canned food for the FISH Food Pantry in Carpentersville.

Not only did the food supply help the food pantry, but guests also enhanced their wardrobes. Pietraszewski offered hundreds of items of clothing to those who brought a can.

"I wanted to clear out my closets and stuff," said Pietraszewski, who once represented the clothing line, CAbi, that operated like a Tupperware party for clothing. "I had a lot of samples and suits that I used to wear when I was working. I sold some, but I didn't want to store them anymore."

Pietraszewski said friends brought more than one bag of food and those who could not make it to the party sent their spouse to deliver the goods.

"It was amazing how much food was under the tree," said Pietraszewski, who also holds garage sales and shops for Toys for Tots. "I would like to do something like this every year where we have a party and get people together for a reason."

That's what West Dundee resident Pam Cox has done for the past three years. Cox and her partner George Barry, organize the neighborhood carolers in their West Dundee subdivision. Those who join the group for the one-night only performance are asked to bring a bag of food or make a donation, which benefit FISH.

"George's parents came up with the idea," Cox said. "We wanted to start the tradition of caroling in this neighborhood and we decided to help out FISH."

In the first year, the group collected about $500 and hundreds of canned items.